(1) Field
The invention relates to a liquid crystal display device.
(2) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display device, one of the most widely used flat panel display devices, includes two display panels, on which are formed electric field-generating electrodes such as pixel electrodes and common electrodes, and a liquid crystal layer filled between the display panels.
An electric field is generated in the liquid crystal layer by applying a voltage to the electric field-generating electrodes, and the generated electric field changes alignment of liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer. The change in alignment of liquid crystal molecules makes it possible to control the polarization of incident light, thereby displaying images using the light.
A liquid crystal display device includes a switching element connected to a pixel electrode, and a plurality of signal lines (such as a gate line and a data line) for applying a voltage to the pixel electrode by controlling the switching element.
Among liquid crystal display devices, a liquid crystal display device based on a vertically aligned mode, which aligns the major axis of liquid crystal molecules to be perpendicular to a display panel when no electric field is applied, is in the limelight because the vertically aligned mode has a relatively high contrast ratio and a wide viewing angle.
However, for the vertically aligned mode-based liquid crystal display device, side visibility may be lower than front visibility. To improve visibility of the vertically aligned mode-based liquid crystal display device, one pixel in the liquid crystal display device is divided into a high subpixel to which is applied a relatively high voltage and a low subpixel to which is applied a relatively low voltage, to adjust transmittance thereof, thereby improving the visibility.